PR Studies

Blog sweatshop exposed

Our undercover photograph reveals the shocking working conditions in blogging centres in the north of England. Trained PR practitioners are required to toil late into the night in hot and airless rooms like this to meet their daily quota of blog entries, blog comments and trackback pings. Their screen-and-keyboard productivity is monitored by demanding supervisors known only as 'Stuart' and 'Bruce'. Those who don't achieve exacting Technorati rankings at the end of the month face dismissal. "Welcome to the new PR", as one worker gloomily told us.

The CIPR director general has vowed to lobby government to clamp down on the new blog economy. "I won't rest until the last undercover blog operation has been outlawed. There's no place for underground activity like this in a modern public relations profession," he said.

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Blog sweatshop exposed

Our undercover photograph reveals the shocking working conditions in blogging centres in the north of England. Trained PR practitioners are required to toil late into the night in hot and airless rooms like this to meet their daily quota of blog entries, blog comments and trackback pings. Their screen-and-keyboard productivity is monitored by demanding supervisors known only as 'Stuart' and 'Bruce'. Those who don't achieve exacting Technorati rankings at the end of the month face dismissal. "Welcome to the new PR", as one worker gloomily told us.

The CIPR director general has vowed to lobby government to clamp down on the new blog economy. "I won't rest until the last undercover blog operation has been outlawed. There's no place for underground activity like this in a modern public relations profession," he said.